The top picture is the most recent, about 25 weeks. The middle one is about 20 weeks, and the bottom one is 14 weeks.
So our plan was to get pregnant in December, 2011. We found out in November that we were expecting a month sooner than we intended. Our due date was August 4th, but after an appointment at about 18 weeks along, the doctors changed it to July 27th, but I know better… all my kids have arrived later than their due date, so I’m going to be ready to go as early as July 27th, but wont expect to go any time before August 4th.
The first trimester was a whole lot of being VERY tired! Then right around the approach of the second trimester, began the severe & uncontrollable migraines. I am copy/pasting an email I sent before, explaining some of that…
**I’ve had a history of headaches since I was 9. I’ve also had occasional migraines over the years. During each pregnancy, they are severely intensified. Of course, there are few medicines I can take to fix the problem. So Friday (jan27) I had the migraine of all migraines… one that was unable to be cured by any medicine, or any remedy we tried. So when a call to the doctor got me sent to the ER, they got me better and sent me home with some medicine. I was a little better on Saturday, but Sunday got bad again, and the medicine they gave me did little to nothing. Monday returned this same evil, uncontrollable migraine. So after going to the OB doc, and after maybe 3 questions, they sent me back over to the hospital. The new women’s hospital, NICE place!!! So they had me talk with neurologists all day, kept me over night, I got an MRI… both good news results… its not neurological & MRI was clear! In the hospital, they gave me IV to hydrate me of course, but also a dose of morphine, a steroid, and zofran. They sent me home with a steroid to take for only one week. But there are other natural ways I need to avoid these from happening again… less computer screen time, working on getting better sleep each night, TONS & TONS of water, and also need to cut a few random things out of my diet that could possibly be triggers.
some of these I eat as healthy snacks like every day - peanut butter banana, and a torilla for lunch with beans, cheese, and guacamole... cant have ANY of that! :(
ok with all THAT said... SINCE my visit to the hospital, (well wait, first... the "pain scale" for migraines... I rate childbirth a 10, and migraines a 9... ) , so since then, I've had at LEAST three 7 pain scale headaches, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday... the thing that has been working Miracles is Tons of water! ...
as far as medicine goes.... sigh* ... ok... the stuff the ER gave me does very little to nothing. And I'm allowed to take Acetametophine whenever, but that rarely helps too. So luckily, most of the natural remedies (and sometimes a little caffeine) have been helping.... but here's the thing (that I Hate) with what to do when nothing else works.... The ER docs and the OB docs have always said to not take Excedrine, which I know. The neurologist asked me to have a discussion with the OBs about what to take when nothing else works... so in came my FAVE doc who delivered Sayda!!! :) ... she and I talked about what options there were when all else fails. She explained the affects to a fetus, of ibuprofen compared to excedrine... and actually told me she'd prefer I take excedrine (only in desperate cases of course) over ibuprofen. That ibuprofen can affect baby's heart, and the only risk in excedrine is the asprin in it, which only has RISK for causing bleeding, but that if i'm not bleeding, then its the safest option, over ibuprofen. But of course that if I were to ever bleed, then stop taking it, and research other options.
So yea, most days, when I have a headache, I drink tons of water & a little acetametphine has done the trick! and i am avoiding excedrine as much as possible. But prayer is still needed, because this has been VERY debilitating!
The CAUSE of the migraines, is simply the hormones... because I've done all else to prevent them (the water, the weird diet, etc.) ... because the migraines come when I wake up... not after I eat something, or whatever else... I've also been taking care of my horrible neck (that i've been having problems with) at the chiropractor, trying new pillows, etc. but laying down, neck pain, etc. plays a part in the headaches. It turned out none of those foods were triggers, because the headaches were coming regardless. The ONE fix was all the water I was drinking! I wasn’t completely surprised (because I know I don’t drink enough water), but I WAS glad it was such an easy fix!**
There is one more instance from that hospital visit that I must document. Mom was at work, and Jake was able to be home with the kids the day I went in. And when they admitted me, and I got into the gown, I kept my socks on. The nurse came in and told me to put on the hospital socks instead. I did so, curiously, but not asking why. Then she further explained that they were safer for the OR. I was even MORE curious at this, and gave her a puzzled look. I finally said, “wait, what will be happening in the OR?” and she replied, “your DNC.” Unfortunately, I didn’t know what that was, but I also wasn’t about to just go along with something I was unaware of, so I asked what that was! She explained that it’s a scraping of the inside of the uterus. And I thought that that was a strange procedure for curing headaches! So I told her I knew nothing about that. So when she left the room to apparently check records and check with the doctor, I called mom. When I told her, she of course panicked, and said, “I’ll be right there!” The nurse came back in, apologizing over and over that she had confused me with another patient. I wasn’t angry, because nothing bad had actually taken place, and she was very remorseful. So I called mom, and stopped her from her dangerous speedy drive across town. The visit in the hospital was tough because I was there, and in severe pain for 6 hours before they gave me anything to help with the pain. (I believe they did this so that they could get accurate information WHILE the pain was still present.) And it wasn’t til about an hour after they gave me the morphine, and eventually the steroid, that I finally felt relief. Needless to say, once the pain was gone, I was able to happily stuff myself with a few meals, and chat with a few friends who visited! It was a memorable experience for sure!
The headaches & migraines finally ceased after a lot of prayer, and gallons of water! Unfortunately, then I started to deal with constipation, but we will leave the details of that Out! Now, at 25 weeks, all of those things are through with, and I’m feeling great!
